The Lawndale Factor: Author's Cut
by FAH3
Summary: High School is over for Daria and Jane, but now things have changed for the dramatic. People and the way of life they knew will never be the same again. A re-edit edition of my original story. Rated M for language.
1. Chapter 1

Daria is copyrighted property of MTV and X-MEN are a copyrighted product of FOX Pictures and MARVEL Comics. I am not with either company, and this is a crossover/parody of both. This story is not copyrighted and was written for fun and out of boredom.

This story is rated M because of language and comic book style violence.

Mutation, it is a constant form of life. Because of mutation, we are what we are now. Mutations can sometimes be small. Other times though, it can be large and very dangerous. In our time frame, mutations will happen again, and more frequently.

The

Lawndale Factor

By FAH3

Home of Amy Barksdale, 2001 AD

Amy Barksdale let herself sink into the soft cushions of her sofa as she read her warn copy of War and Peace. She was one of the few that could actually read the entire book within a day, and needed something to help herself unwind a bit. She was resting after seeing her favorite niece, Daria Morgendorffer, finally graduate from menagerie of escaped mental patient's known as Lawndale High School. She had to admire the girl for lasting so long in that mass gathering of insanity. Of course, she probably wouldn't have made it that far without the help of that friend of hers. Those kinds of friends were rare to find and shouldn't be given up without a fight.

'_I'm glad she's finally out of that hell. She'll have more fun at college anyway.'_ Amy thought with a smirk.

She could remember her days in college and how much she had loved the time she had spent there. The main reason was because it kept her away from the constant fighting and bickering between her sisters Helen and Rita. Their rivalry had subsided recently and her two sisters had been on good terms since the almost divorce of Rita's daughter, Erin. But every few squabbles she heard about would allow her to remember those days she had spent at college and away from the reminder she had two loud-mouthed harpies in her gene pool. But most of those memories that would drift back to the surface were of a professor she had. He was tall, handsome, one of the most intelligent people she knew, and was built like Mr. Universe! She admitted that she had a bit of a crush on him, which explained why she kept taking his class every other semester. But her crush on him wasn't because of his body, but because of his intelligence. But why couldn't she remember his name? It was on the tip of her tongue, but she just couldn't grasp it. She remembered that in one their conversations they had that he told her he was a prodigy; which also explained why they were the same age. He always wanted to be called by his first name, though. What was it? Hank! That was it. But what was his last name? Maybe she could look him up and give him a call some time if she could remember it.

As she was trying to remember the rest of his name, she began to pick up something. Something she hadn't sensed in a long time. She wasn't detecting anything with her eyes, ears, or even her nose, but with her mind. It was a stray thought. The thought didn't belong to her, but someone else. Someone that was very close.

'_It's time'_ was all she heard. Where could it be coming from? This was making her uneasy. She got up from the couch and went to the window. What she saw made her eyes go wide in fear.

"Oh, Shi"

Before she could finish, a giant mass burst through the wall of her home that sent her flying across the living room like she was a rag doll. As she looked up, she saw a large, strange figure standing in the gapping hole in her wall. As she looked closer though, she saw it wasn't a man at all, or even human. It was a machine!

_**"Target 0001, raise your hands and prepare to be captured."**_ the figure said in an almost human, digitized voice.

"Sorry, you're not my type." She said as she tried to bolt out of the room.

An energy blast hit her in the middle of her back that felt like she was hit by a bettering ram that was covered with ball lightning, causing her to fall and stumble across the floor. She rapidly tried to gasp for air as the wind was knocked out of her lungs. She turned herself over and saw the figure was now standing over her with its palm in front of her. What caught her attention was the hole that was in the middle of its palm and it began to glow. She had to think of something quick! As she gazed all about her destroyed living room, she saw one of the fire pokers was laying on the floor behind the massive machine. She then tried to do something she hadn't done for several years. She quickly concentrated on the fire poker, and saw that it was beginning float in the air. She concentrated on it harder, and saw it had not steadied itself. She then looked at the figure right square in its metal face as a smirk began to form on hers.

"Download this!" she said, and saw the point of the poker come out of it's face!

The mammoth machine jerked a few times as gray smoke began coming out from the new hole in its head, and then stood still. Like it was out of a cartoon, the machine slowly fell backwards and hit the floor with a loud thud that shook her entire house down to its foundation. She breathed a sigh of relief as she tried looking for the person she had sensed earlier, but found nothing. Whoever it was had left. As she took a few more deep breaths. she tried to stand up. Something was wrong, though. She tried to stand up again, but soon realized that couldn't! She tried to get up again and again, but she still couldn't. As she began feeling her legs to see if they were broken, she noticed something that shocked her. She couldn't feel, nor move her legs!

**Vance College, January, 2002. **

Michael "Mack" MacKenzie was sitting in the bleachers that surrounded the football field as he watched the others on the football team play. Mack was honestly relieved that he didn't have to play football for a while. He had grown tired of it after having to play for Lawndale for four years and dealing with their quarterback Kevin Thompson. On the other hand, he really didn't like the reason why he wasn't on the team for the moment. He didn't know why, but his eyes had been bothering him a lot lately. It almost felt as if they were burning every now and then. It felt like his eyes were on fire from the inside. The doctor had told him that his eyes were becoming light sensitive and to rest for several days. Light sensitive his foot! If his eyes were light sensitive, then why did they also feel like there were burning at night as well?

"Yo! Mack!" a voice shouted beside him.

"Ah, crap." Mack sighed. It was the QB, a guy almost as worst as Kevin Thompson.

"So Mack, what did the Doc say?" he asked him as he took a seat by Mack and began gulping down a Gatorade as fast as he could.

"The doctor said my eyes were becoming light sensitive. Except I feel fine right now." he told him.

"Well dude, he might be right."

"What do you mean?" Mack asked him.

"Your eyes _do_ look a little red." He told him.

"They do?" Mack asked him, a little puzzled.

"Yeah! Whoa! It looks like they're getting worse too!" he told him.

Now that the QB had mentioned it, his vision was starting to change colors on him. He couldn't quite explain it, but it was almost like everything was beginning to take on a slightly red hue. What in the world was going on with him?

"Excuse me a minute." Mack said and jumped down off the bleachers.

Mack was starting to take a short cut underneath the bleachers to the restroom when his eyes started to sting ever so slightly. It almost felt like the times he would get dust in his eyes whenever he helped his mother clean around the house, but it felt a little worse than that. It wasn't too bad at first though. But it slowly started to get worse for him as he kept walking. He was rubbing his eyes to see if that would help, but to no avail. The pain was growing much worse as the red hue kept becoming more dominant in his vision. Mack had to close his eyes tight to try and keep the pain from hurting him so much. He began to moan a little bit as the pain kept increasing more and more. He was beginning to cry as it felt like his eyes were trying to burn themselves out of their sockets. He fell to his knees, covering his face with his hands as he began to sob.

"My God, please. Please, make it stop!" Mack was moaning.

He looked up and tried opened his eyes to see if the tears he had been shedding had helped any. He was shocked and terrified to find that he was seeing everything red! His gaze was focused on the bleachers as he tried to understand what was wrong, and was horrified when he saw a beam of energy emerge from his own eyes and blast a whole section of the bleachers away! He screamed in terror and looked away, only to see the beam of energy completely destroy a whole wall of the school! He closed his eyes tightly, trying to keep the beams from destroying anything else he looked at. He cried in terror and in pain as he felt the optic blasts trying to escape. He slowly opened his eyes while looking at the ground, and saw that the beams had stopped for the moment. He slowly looked up, and saw the smoking ruin of the school building the energy beams had destroyed. It looked as if a dragon spitting napalm had come down and hurled a lugie fireball at it. He slowly turned around and looked at the bleachers, and gasped as he saw a massive section of them was now nothing but a charred ruin. It also was the same for the bleachers at the other end of the field as a giant rut that had been burned into ground connected them,

"GET AN AMBULANCE! LANCE'S ARM IS BURNED!" a football player shouted.

"BURNED? DAMN! HIS ARM WAS INSENERATED! THERE'S NOTHING LEFT!" The QB shouted.

"Oh my God in Heaven, no! No! NO! WHAT AM I?" Mack shouted as started to run away.

He ran off of the college campus, and down the street that lead into town. He didn't know where he was going or where he _could_ go, he just knew he had to get out of there before his eyes became deadly again. He had run for about a half a mile away from the college when his eyes began to feel that they were burning again. He knew that they were fixing to ignite again.

"NO!** NO! GET OUT OF THE WAY! GET OUT OF THE WAY!**" Mack shouted as he looked up into the sky, and a massive optic blast of crimson energy shot forth like a giant Roman candle. People ran in fear from whatever Mack now was, terrified of what he might do. Screaming because they didn't know what in the world was going on.

"**WHAT AM I?**" Mack screamed as he continued to look upward into the sky, and the massive blast continued to shoot upward.

"It looks like we found him." A woman in a wheel chair said as her driver continued down the road in a jet-black van.

"My God! That's him?" the young driver asked her as she saw the massive pillar of energy.

"I'm afraid so. I didn't know his power would be that dramatic. We better hurry. The last thing we need right now is the press getting there before us." the woman said as the driver pushed her foot against the accelerator. Time was now of the essence.

Mack had closed his eyes again, and covered his face in his hands. He was crying uncontrollably as everything that had just happened in the past several minutes kept flooding his brain liked water in a clogged sink. He couldn't believe what was happening to him. And what he had done Lance, the linebacker, made everything more unbearable. He didn't see what the blast had done to him, but he had heard it. He had burned away his arm. Why was this happening to him? Why him, and what was it that was happening?

"PUT YOUR HANDS ABOVE YOUR HEAD!" a voice shouted at him. From the tone of it, it must have been a cop.

"I CAN'T!" he shouted at whoever spoke.

"DROP WHATEVER WEAPON YOU HAVE, AND PUT YOUR HANDS ABOVE YOUR HEAD!" the voice shouted at him.

"**I CAN'T! IT'S MY EYES! THEY'RE DOING ALL THIS! IF I OPEN MY EYES, YOU'LL BE FRIED!**" Mack shouted at whoever was talking.

"YOU ARE THREATENING A POLICE OFFICER! DROP YOUR–"

**"I DON'T HAVE A WEAPON! IT'S MY EYES!"** Mack shouted again!

The next thing Mack felt were two sets of arms trying to drag his hands behind his back.

**"You don't understand! It's my eyes! They're dangerous! Stop! STOP!"** Mack shouted at them.

As he tried to warn them, he felt two people grab his forearms and begin to force his hands behind his back. As Mack was forced to the ground, he felt one of the two slam his head down into the pavement that made him open his eyes on instinct. The resulting blast that was emitted was so strong; it sent him and the two police officers flying upward into the air. Mack quickly closed his eyes again as both he and the two officers landed back onto the ground with a hard thud. Mack heard the hammers of pistols being cocked back and knew this was it. His breath was shaking as he waited for them to open fire and the bullets riddle his body, but then heard nothing. He wanted open his eyes to see what was happening, but he couldn't. He knew what would happen if he did. He finally heard something else. It sounded like a car pulling up and stopping not too far from him. The noise that followed it was a strange whirring sound, like a small motor.

"It's okay, they won't fire." A woman said to him.

"Who's there?" Mack asked, trying to see if he recognized the voice.

"A friend. Here, wear these." The voice said, and Mack felt something being pushed into his hands.

He took the object and began to feel the object to see what it was. His confusion grew as he realized that the object he was holding were sunglasses, but the lenses felt different.

"Sunglasses? How?" he asked.

"They'll help control your eyes for now." The voice said. "Trust me." The woman said in a soothing voice.

He didn't know why he was listening or what was making him move, but something in his mind was telling him to trust this woman and to put the glasses on. Mack slowly slid the glasses onto his face, and slowly began to open his eyes. Everything was still red, but his blasts weren't going off! He looked around and saw that the police officers were standing still, looking stupefied or something.

"What did you do to them?" Mack asked whoever the person was.

"Immobilized them. It'll wear off as soon as we leave." The voice said.

Mack turned to see a Brunette woman wearing a dark blue T-shirt and slacks, in a motorized wheel chair. HE didn't know what it was, but she reminded him of someone he knew.

"You look familiar. Do I know you?" he asked her.

"You know my niece, and I'll leave it at that for now. I want to help you get out of here." She told him.

"Why do you want to help me? Look at what I've done." he asked the woman.

"You are unique, like others I am trying to help. Or you can answer the questions of these officers." She told him.

Mack looked around, and saw the crater his optic blasts left in the street. He also remembered what he had seen at the college and what he had heard the football players screaming about Lance.

"Let's go." He said, and got into the van without asking another question.


	2. Sliced or Diced?

The

Lawndale Factor

By FAH3

**Lawndale, March 2002. **

Trent Lane was staggering down the street and didn't really know how he had gotten there. Everything in a foggy haze, and not the kind of haze he was used to. The last thing that he remembered was that he had been booked for a solo gig at some club a couple of hundred miles out of town. When he had gotten there, someone knocked unconscious. The only thing he could remember after that was waking up in the woods butt naked. When he had made his way out of the woods and into a neighborhood, he found a good will bin and grabbed himself a few things from it and had been trying to find his way home ever since. Imagine his surprise when he found out he was in Canada and no where near home. It took him several days to find his way back home after that. He wasn't stunned at how fast it took him to get home; he had always been fast like his sister Jane. He really just couldn't believe how relieved he had felt when he saw the familiar sight of his house in the distance. He was really looking forward to sleeping in his own bed and now on a pile of wet grass and mud.

"So when do you think Trent will be home? He's been gone for a week now." Daria asked her best friend and partner in crime, Jane Lane.

"Don't know. The last time I didn't see him for this long was when he got that job for that used car lot." Jane told her as they stepped outside her house.

"But even then, you saw him every once in a while." Daria told her as tey began to walk to the Pizza Prince restaurant.

"Good point. Maybe I should start to worry." Jane said as something else was on her mind. It didn't take Daria long to notice.

"Are you okay, Jane? You haven't mentioned anything about B.F.A.C since we've both gotten home. Not even on the ride down here." Daria said to her friend.

"Daria, it's just, well – Do you remember that episode we saw of Sick Sad World before we came back here?" Jane asked her.

"You mean the one about mutants being among us? I remember it vaguely. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I was watching the news the other day, and it turns out Sick Sad World wasn't lying this time." Jane told her.

"Do what?" Daria asked. She was mainly surprised at the fact that Sick Sad World had gotten a real story and not a fake one for once.

"It's true. As it turns out, there are mutants in the world. And I mean of the dramatic kind." Jane told her.

"How dramatic are we talking about, Sell Out?" she asked her.

"From what I saw, some mutants can look like creatures from comic books or science fiction movies. Other mutants, on the other hand, look like regular people but have still have these weird abilities. I mean, they could be your best friend and," Jane just trailed off after that and began looking down at the ground as they continued to walk. Daria knew something was up here, and these mutant stories had something to do with it.

"Jane, are you trying to tell me something?" Daria asked her.

Jane was about to say something, when they heard an all too familiar voice behind them. A voice they hoped would have gotten the living crap out of it.

"Hello, ladies. What are two fine examples of womanhood like yourselves doing today?"

Charles Ruttheimer III had driven up behind them in his hideously pink Cadillac, and still believed that he was God's gift to women.

"Beat it, Upchuck. This doesn't concern you." Jane told him, her eyes narrowing. None of them ever really cared for Charles. His little Ladies Man act got really tiresome real quick. But Jane truly dispised him when he caught the little bastard outside her window on a ladder with a video camera. He didn't record anything, but she broke his nose with one of her canvas paintings which sent him and the ladder falling to the ground.

"Oh, Feisty as usual. May I offer you a ride on the dream machine? Maybe for some post college 'relief?'" he asked in his almost reptile tone of voice.

"Get lost, Ruttheimer. The only action you'll get is Class Action." Daria told him.

"Oh, I don't think so this time." Charles said as Daria and Jane started to walk off.

Before Daria knew what was happening, some kind of long, elastic rope wrapped around her waist and lifted her in the air!

"JANE!" she screamed as she was lifted to almost the top of a tree! "DARIA!" Jane shouted as she looked to see where the rope was coming from. She almost became sick to her stomach when she saw that the rope was actually a tongue that belonged to Upchuck!

"Get that thing off her you little toad!" Jane shouted to him as her temper boiled and the clouds above began to grow and become dark.

The wind started to pick up, blowing harder as it became more and more violent. In only a few seconds, it was almost as if another hurricane had just blown into town and was aiming itself directly at Upchuck. Charles was holding onto his car for dear life so he wouldn't be blown out of his car, and finally let go of Daria so he could concentrate on his own safety. Jane caught her friend as she fell and fixed her angry gaze square at Upchuck. Daria looked at her friend and saw that her friend's eyes had become completely white as the wind became stronger. As a large bolt of lightning flashed across the darkened sky, Charles' car flipped over from a massive gust of wind and became trapped underneath it.

The wind died down and went away as the clouds parted to allow the sun to shine again while Jane's eyes went to back to her pale blue color. Daria got back to her feet while she looked at her friend with a mix of shock and awe.

"J-Jane?" she asked her, a little scared and shaking all over.

"Um, surprise?" Jane asked her friend as she started to become nervous.

"_This is Jane we're talking about, and she just saved me! Get it together Morgendorffer!"_ Daria thought to herself. "Can you make it snow?" Daria asked her. Jane smiled, knowing that Daria was still her friend.

"Well, well, WELL!" a voice said. They turned and saw Upchuck climbing out of the car and begun crouching. "Who would have thought? Another mutant in Lawndale. And a pretty one at that!" Upchuck said to them.

"That's not the only thing I can do you little bastard!" Jane said as her eyes turned white again. Dark clouds gathered over their heads once more, and lightning started to form and strike like a rattlesnake bite. "I wonder how ground Upchuck would taste fried?" Jane asked herself.

With a large leering grin on his face, Upchuck leapt off his car and took a lunge at Jane. Before Charles could react, he felt a powerful fist smash him in the gut and sent him to the ground. Charles landed on the ground with the wind knocked out of him, coughing as he rose up on his hands and kness. When he looked up, he saw Trent Lane standing above him with a very upset look on his face.

"Beat it man. You don't want to mess with my sister, or me." Trent told Upchuck.

"What do you think you can do to a mutant like me?" he asked him.

Trent baled up his fists tightly as anger coursed through him. Without warning, three metal claws shot out from in between his fingers on each hand and almost seemed to glow in what little light there was.

"Sliced, or diced?" Trent asked him.

Upchuck looked at Trent with his claws, and Jane with her white eyes. It didn't take a genius to see that Charles was out numbered, out gunned, and out classed.

"See ya." He said and leapt over their heads, and over the roof of a near by house.

Jane's eyes returned to normal and the skies cleared as she turned to stare at her brother. Daria and Jane couldn't help but gaze at the claws that were coming out of Trent's hands.

"Trent? What happened to your hands?" Jane asked him and carefully lifted his hand to examine it.

"Don't know. I think those are cheese knives." He said.

As he relaxed, the claws quickly retracted into his hands; spooking Daria and Jane.

"Trent, get in the house. Now!" Jane told him.

Trent was fast asleep on the couch with his normal clothes on while Jane and Daria were at the kitchen table. Jane was looking a little nervous and embarrassed while Daria sipper cup of coffee.

"How come you didn't tall me you were a mutant?" Daria finally asked her.

"Think about it Daria. You know history better than me. People have a bad habit of getting scared, panicky, and try to beat the living crap out of anything different or don't understand. I know you were my friend, but I just didn't want to risk my secret getting out." She told her.

"I can understand that. So how long have you been a mutant?" Daria asked her.

"Since before we met. I noticed whenever I was in some sort of mood, or wanted it to rain, the weather changed. I try to practice my abilities when no one's around." Jane told her.

"How come I didn't find out about this sooner?" Daria asked her. She could tell from the way Jane was fidgeting that she was getting nervous again.

"Well, I – didn't know how'd you take it. And I also didn't want to risk scaring you away." Jane told her.

"Does that mean the day we went to that tourist trap, you caused it to rain?" Daria asked her. (_The Daria Hunter)_

Jane smirked at that question. "No, I didn't cause that. But I made it worse when I became pissed to find it was a crazy wanna be shark hunter who ran the place." She told her friend.

"What about Trent? Did he always have those – things?" Daria asked slowly as she looked at him sleeping on the couch.

"Actually, he always seemed normal compared to the rest of us. Besides, I don't think he ever had those. I don't know where they came from." Jane told her.

"Poor Trent. What about the cuts where the claws came out?" Daria asked her.

"When I was fixing to put some rubbing alcohol on them, I didn't see anything. Not even a bruise!" she told him. Daria's eyes went wide.

"Nothing?" Daria asked her.

"Nothing! I found a little blood, but nothing else. Come to think about it, Trent was always a fast healer. He never did stay down long. If he's a mutant too, maybe that's what his abilities are." Jane told him.

"To heal instantly?" Daria asked her.

"Hey, nobody's perfect. The claws, I don't know. I think he doesn't either. From how clueless he looked, that was probably the first time they came out." Jane said. Jane then looked at Daria for a moment, fixing to ask her something before Daria cut her off.

"I won't tell anybody." Daria told her friend.

"Thanks, Daria." Jane said.

If they had looked outside the window, they would have seen a big, broad shadow that had been hiding in the shadows of the bushes. He slowly let go of the branches, scratching a few with the metal claws that came out from his fingers. He turned and walked off, breathing as if he was some sort of an animal.

_**BOSTON**_**. **

"Are you sure this thing will help control – whatever it is that's happening to me?" Mack asked the person in front of him. He cautiously adjusted the visor that sat on his face. The device itself looked like a cross of Geordi's visor from Star Trek, and a VR viewer.

"It was the best thing I could do on such short notice. The more advanced one I'm currently working on right now." The woman said to him.

"Okay. Now, just who are you? And where am I?" he asked the woman.

"Sorry. My name is Amy Barksdale. Right now, you're at my home." She told him.

"Where's your home? Upstate New York?" Mack asked her.

"No, nowhere near there. Actually, we're still in Boston. You're at my school for gifted people. I've spent over two years getting it ready." She told him.

"Gifted people, huh? Is that a proper way of saying 'Freak'?" he asked her.

"You're not a freak, Michael. You are a mutant." She told him.

"A mutant? You mean like Godzilla or something?" he asked her.

"No, nothing like that. You are simply a human, that has evolved." She told him.

"Evolved? Y-you mean there are more people shooting lasers from their eyes?" Mack asked as she rolled her chair into a hallway.

"No. Your abilities are unique. Different mutants have different gifts. Yours is your optic blasts. Others can have brute strength or the ability to make themselves into the form of someone else." She told him as they entered her office. "

Someone else? Man, how many mutants are out there?" Mack asked her.

"A lot." Amy told him.

"How do you know all this?" Mack asked her.

'_You're not the only one with abilities far beyond those of mortal men.' _A voice said in head. Mack spun around to see where it came from, and saw Amy with a large smirk.

"Y-you did that?" he asked her.

"Indeed I did. Now, I think it's time that you learned how to use that visor of yours." Amy told him as she wheeled to behind her desk.

"How do I do that?" Mack asked her.

Amy pressed a button on the desk, and the whole room started move downwards. Mack was astounded to see that the room was a giant elevator as she saw it descend down the massive shaft. When it stopped, the office doors opened to show a hallway that looked as if it really did belong in a Star Trek film.

"Wh-what?" Mack asked.

"Down the hall, first door on your left." Amy told him.

Mack looked at her for a moment, unsure what she was talking about. Then, ever so slowly, he started to walk. Down the hall, to the left. Followed her instructions, and ended up in a dark room.

"Hello?" Mack asked. The door closed behind him, and the lights came on, showing a room as large as a professional football stadium. He looked up to see a room at the top of the ceiling. It looked to be some kind of Guardroom or something.

_"Welcome do the Danger Room, Michael MacKenzie. Here, you will train your powers to their full extent, along with combat abilities for self-defense."_ The amplified voice of Amy Barksdale said.

"Self-defense? For what?" Mack asked.

_"People don't like change, Mack. They've met it with two things. Fear, or acceptance. Most of the time it's fear and that usually leads to violence. The self-defense is incase you are attacked. But do NOT use your powers unless it is life and death, or a last resort. When your new visor is ready, you'll then learn how to control the intensity of your blasts."_ Amy told him.

"Okay, sounds good. Who going to be teaching me?" he asked her.

_"One of my first students."_

The doors opened to show Jodie Landon walking calmly into the Danger Room and stop in front of Mack.

"J-Jodie?" Mack asked her.

"Get ready for a whooping." She said and assumed a fighting stance.

"What are you going to do?" Mack asked, his mood lifting a little. Before he knew it, he was lifted upside down in the air, upside down by nothing! Then floated toward Jodie until they were face to face.

"Like my abilities?" she asked him.

_"Maybe we should start with basic attacks." _Amy said over the intercom.


	3. A Dak Cloud on the Horizon

The

Lawndale Future

By FAH3

**July 2002, RAFT College. **

"Thanks for letting me hang out with you at RAFT." Jane said as she and her brother Trent followed Daria around campus.

"Yeah. Like, cool." Trent said.

"It's nothing. To tell you the truth, I think this place is full of nothing but mutants." Daria told them.

"How can you tell?" Jane asked her as she raised a curious eyebrow.

"Look at everyone." Daria said to her.

Trent and Jane both smirked a little bit at her joke as they entered the student lounge.

"Ah, man! Another stupid politic show!" a student moaned from his seat. Daria and Jane looked at the TV for a moment to see that there was news coverage going on for an election for congress.

"I thought that wasn't for a while." Daria said to herself.

"It is. Some fat cat died of a heart attack, so now they're electing someone else to take his spot." A red head near by said.

"And just when you think things couldn't get any worse." Jane said.

_"I thank those for nominating me. I promise to bring honor, and acclaim, to both the American people and Laaawndale – I mean The United States."_ The voice on the TV finished, causing the trio's eyes to widen in horror.

"NO F#KING WAY!" all three of them shouted at once as they quickly turned to look at the screen again. Sure enough, to there nausiated horror, there was Miss Li on TV with an American Flag behind her.

"You have got to be kidding me! With her elected into congress," Jane started.

"If she's elected, it would be the same as every other politician there. They're all nutcases." Daria finished.

"Good point." Trent said to Daria.

_"Also, with the new scare of mutants looming on our nation's horizon, I will push for the scanning and registration of all known mutants in America! With this vote, we can live safe and away from these freaks – I mean abnormal people. Thank you!"_ Miss Li finished.

"Okay, now I'm worried and pissed off." Jane told her.

"As if her conspiracy paranoia wasn't enough at High School, now she's trying to spread it across the nation." Daria said to herself.

"Yeah, as if the country weren't screwed up enough." Trent said. Jane and Daria smirked at Trent's and his comment.

"Yeah, well what can be worse than the old bat running for congress?" Jane asked as she and the others moved on.

"Ah, another day and another handful of votes." Miss Li said as she laid back in her leather office chair at Lawndale High that the band was so generous enough to pay for. Whether they knew it or not.

"Miss Li, are you so SURE that it was wise to MENTION the mutant SCANNING act?" Mr. DeMartino asked her in his usual, very stressed, tone.

"Why shouldn't I? Everyone knows those freaks of nature don't belong here." Miss Li said to him.

"Well, What if a MUTANT was on the FOOTBALL team?" Mr. DeMartino asked her.

"Okay, I would make an exception there. Besides, what can they do? They should all be shipped to another island and far away from the rest of normal society." Miss Li said as she sipped her coffee and turned the back of her chair away from Mr. DeMartino.

"Out of CURIOSITY, Miss; why DID you decide to hire me as your CAMPAIGN MANAGER?" Mr. DeMartino asked her.

"Come on, Anthony. You very well know why. You can practically scare anyone into voting for me. Why do you think most of your students are so eager to get out of your class? Besides, you know what kind of politician closet case war veterans like you go for." Miss Li told him.

"So it's not because I'm a MAN?" he asked her.

"For crying out loud, Anthony! You're starting to sound like that bitch Barch." Miss Li said to him.

"Isn't that the pot calling the kettle black." Mr. DeMartino said.

Miss Li noticed something some thing different about Anthony's voice. It shifted in tone when he talked just then. Hell, she could almost swear that it sounded like it was changing into someone else's voice entirely. When she turned around in her chair, she saw Mr. DeMartino's face and body shape completely almost melt and change into a form more feminine. Within moments, Anthony was gone ad the person standing in his place was Ms. Barch!

"Surprised to see me, Miss Li?" Ms. Barch asked and dropped kicked Miss Li in the face.

**Half a mile from Camp Grizzly. **

"Are you sure this is the way back to camp?" a little girl asked her older sister that was walking in front of her.

"I think so. We couldn't have gone that far off the trail." she said as she wandered through the brush and fallen branches.

"I'm scared. I heard there's a monster out here." The little girl as she came close to crying.

"Don't be silly. Besides, you wanted to get a look at some of the birds out here." Her sister said.

"I know, but I still hear stories about these places." The little girl said.

"Listen, as far as I know, nothing is out here."

"AAAAGGGGHHH! THAT BITCH!" a voice yelled from the inside the woods.

The two sisters immediately hugged each other tightly as fear began to surge through them.

"W-what was that?" the little girl asked.

"I-I don't know." Her sister replied, praying to God it wasn't something similar to the slasher movies she had watched before coming to the camp. Before they knew it, what looked like a large metal man ran passed them; knocking over trees as he passed. The little girl screamed and buried her face in her sister's shirt while her sister held her close.

"Excuse me, which way to the road?" the metal man asked the older sister.

"T-that way!" the older woman said and pointed north.

"Thank you." He said and began running again, like a giant bulldozer.

Miss Li slowly awoke from the deep sleep she had been in. She was wondering what had happened to her when she finally remembered. DeMartino, or Ms. Barch, had knocked her unconscious. She looked around her surroundings to try and figure out where she was and discovered that she was strapped to a strange metal chair. She looked to her left and saw Ms. Barch, wearing a white jump suit while her skin had changed to a blue pigment and her eyes were almost glowing yellow. She tried to look to her right, but didn't see anyone. She knew someone was there, she could feel their breath on her.

"Don't worry, Ms. Li. My people won't harm you. Not unless you piss me off." A voice said in front of her.

She looked ahead to see a floating person, wearing a mixture of blood red and dark purple body armor. The person was wearing a blood red helmet that acted as a mask as well, while a long and flowing dark purple cape sat on his shoulders.

"Who-who are you?" she asked the lone figure in front of her.

"Just call me Magnus for the time being." The figure said. Magnus held out his opened hand toward Miss Li, and the chair moved a few feet closer.

"What the hell!" Miss Li shouted in surprise and fear.

"Don't worry, I only can use magnetism for metal." The figure told her.

"Y-you're another freak, aren't you?" Miss Li demanded.

"**FREAK?**" Magnus shouted, and raised the chair high into the air just by pointing at it. "We find the name freak a little insulting. We would prefer to be called Mutants, or Homo-superior. DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME, LI?" the figure demanded.

"Y-yes! I got it!" she said.

"Good." Magnus said and lowered her.

"W-what are you going to do to me?" Miss Li asked them.

"For now, you'll continue your campaign. Until further notice, and as of now, you serve the Conglomerate of Homo-Superiors." Magnus told her.

"Huh?" Miss Li asked him.

"I knew that wouldn't work. All right. just call us the Organization of Superior Mutants." Magnus told her.

"Awesome! But couldn't it be like the Brotherhood of Mutants?" the person behind Miss Li asked.

"SHUT UP! Besides, it sounds too much like it came from a comic book!" Magnus told him.

"So **SHUT UP** you, you **MAN**!" Ms. Barch shouted at the person as well.

"This is all insane! What makes you think you'll get away with this?" Miss Li demanded.

"Come on, Miss Li. These are Police we're talking about. More to the point, _Lawndale_ police." Magnus told her.

"Crap! You're right." Miss Li said to herself.

"Make yourself comfortable, Miss Li. You're going to be here a while. Ms. Barch! You know what to do." Magnus told her.

"Yeah, yeah." Ms. Barch said as her form began to shift and change into the form of Miss Li. "I've got a campaign to run." Miss Li/Barch said as she turned around and left.

"Fang face! Take her to a room. Damn lousy politicians." Magnus said in a whisper and left.

"Come on, Miss. We've got some catching up to do." the person said to her as they lifted the chair with her still in it and began to carry her away. She also knew that voice, but it couldn't be.

**September 2002, B.F.A.C.**

Jane sat at her canvas, painting another infamous Jane Lane work of Art. She was so busy getting her inspiration down on to canvas; she didn't really notice or know what it looked like. She just knew something had gotten her creative juices flowing and she had to get it down and out of her head.

"Good work, Jane. I've never seen something quite like this." Her teacher said as he walked behind her.

"Huh? Oh! Thanks." she said as she was snapped out of her trance.

She looked at the canvas and couldn't believe what she had painted. It was her brother wearing his usual attire while having his three claws extended on one arm, while his right arm was raised with only the middle claw sticking out.

"Well, Daria and Trent should get a kick out of this." Jane said to herself.

As she looked over her painting, she heard a lot of commotion going on outside. She looked out the window to see that Adam Snider was outside with his latest work of art. Adam was sculpture, and had been working on a steel dragon that would breathe fire for the past several weeks. Today though, Jane could tell something was wrong. Adam was panicking. She ran outside to the courtyard just in time to see the head of the dragon explode! Everyone took cover to avoid shrapnel as Jane ran outside t make sure no one was hurt. As Jane ran out of the building and where the sculpture stood, began to look. She saw that one students arm was on fire, and Adam was shouting something about another tank being inside the body of his sculpture. Jane knew what she had to do, and also knew her cover was going to be blown,

"The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." Jane said to herself as she looked up, and her eyes turned pure white.

Dark storm clouds began to gather fast while lightning struck and thunder rumbled. She looked at the statue and focused on it, causing rain to poor down on top of it. Not just light drizzling, but a total down poor of hurricane proportions. Jane kept the heavy shower going and astounding the students until the fire was finally completely out. As the rain finally slowed and stopped, she looked around and noticed that several people were now looking at her. Her eyes quickly changed back to normal as she began to become very flushed.

"Um, eep." was all Jane could say as everyone looked at her. Sayin that she had blown her secret was an understatement as she became scared of what would happen next. But nothing happened. No one said anything or moved. Nothing. As Jane gazed at everyone, she saw that everyone was just standing still like they were statues. It as almost as if they were frozen in time.

"Okay, now it's time for _me_ to freak out." Jane said to herself.

"Actually, you don't have to. They no longer know that you were responsible for the weather's change." A voice said behind her.

Jane quickly turned to see a woman approaching her that was in a motorized wheelchair. As soon as she saw her, Jane instantly knew who the woman was from all the photos Daria had shown her so many times.

"Amy Barksdale? What happened to everyone?" Jane asked her.

"It's a long story. Jane, I have a proposition for you." She told her.


	4. Jock and Claws

**March 2003, Lawndale. **

Daria sat was home again on vacation from college, and she had spent most of the time in her familiar padded room and thinking. She had heard that Jane had been accepted at some school for the gifted several months ago, and hadn't heard that much from her since then. And the last time they had actually gotten to see each other was when she was still attending the Boston Fine Arts college. She missed actually seeing her old friend's face while she was talking to her. She missed her best friend. On top of that, Miss Li's campaign was now in full swing with her constant mutant bashing. With the existence of mutants revealed, more people were going into hiding; and Miss Li was using it as an example for her campaign. It turned out that there were more people out there that were afraid of mutants than the number of people willing to live with them. Her parents weren't much help there! How could she tell them that her best friend and her brother were mutants? Already there were mobs attacking just about anyone who was accused of being a mutant. It looked like an even worse version of the Salem Witch Trials! Daria just sighed and looked at ceiling.

"Hey Kiddo! What's up?" her dad asked, trying to sound "Up Beat."

"Nothing much. I just miss Jane is all." Daria told him.

"Oh, okay!" Jake said and turned on the TV. As the screen brightened, it showed Miss Li, on her mutant bashing campaign again.

"I can't stand that woman!" Helen said as she wondered into the living room. "The nerve of her saying I look fifty!" Helen said again.

"She's raving about mutants again." Daria told them.

"Oh! Mutants! You really never know where they are!" Jake said, acting suspicious again.

"She's basically saying she will give the government the right to choose to let mutants have a life or even live!" Daria in a sarcastic tone, but she was basically also telling the flat out truth.

"DO WHAT?" Jake and Helen screamed at the same time.

"DAMN LOUSY RACIST POLITICS! WHEN THE HELL ARE THEY GOING TO WAKE UP AND ACCEPT LIFE FOR EVERYTHING IT'S GOT!" Jake screamed, veins bulging all over his neck.

"JAKE! CALM DOWN OR YOU'LL GIVE YOURSELF ANOTHER HEART ATTACK!" Helen shouted at her husband.

"OH, SO YOU'RE FOR THIS MUTANT SCANNING CRAP!" Jake accused his wife.

"ARE YOU JOKING? THAT BITCH IS BASICLY GOING AGAINST THE CONSTITUTION! I'D KICK MY SHOE IN HER ASS IF SHE WERE HERE RIGHT NOW!" Helen shouted back!

A loud medal clanging came from the kitchen, and everyone turned to look! The rack the pots and pans were on had fallen and all the pots and pans scattered all over the floor!

"What happened?" Quinn asked as she came running down the stairs!

"The rack fell, Quinn! Nothing to be worried about!" Helen told her youngest daughter.

"Yeah, but how did it happen?" Daria asked them.

Both looked sheepish yet puzzled at the same time. Like somehow, one of them knew what happened but didn't know how to explain it. For that matter, how to even answer it!

"Let's just clean this mess up!" Helen finally said. Daria just shrugged and helped. Of course, she did look at the rack and saw that it looked as if someone was pulling at it! Someone strong!

After the mess was cleaned up, Daria told everyone she was going for a walk. As she did, she caught herself wondering over to Jane's house. She felt like an idiot for wondering over there, but it was force of habit. When she was going for a walk, it was an excuse to go see Jane. While she was there, she thought she might as well see Trent. When she knocked on the door, Trent was actually up and answering!

"Hey Daria." Trent said to her.

"Hey, Trent. Have you heard from Jane?" she asked him.

"A few days ago. She's doing all right at that new school." Trent told her.

"Oh, okay." Daria said. They stood there for a while.

"You look beat. You want me to give you a ride?" he asked her.

"Sure." Daria said. While in the car, Trent knew something was off.

"What all's been going on?" Trent asked her.

"I'm just sick of Miss Li's mutant bashing! I mean, you and Jane are mutants and you're just as normal as anyone else is. Besides a few things." She added. Trent laughed a little before he coughed. "Your cough isn't as bad." Daria told her.

"I know, it's a little weird. Listen; just forget about the bitch. People are scared, but they'll have to accept it sooner or later. Besides, Janie and I can protect ourselves." Trent said.

"Okay." Daria said, a little reassured.

_**BAM!**_

The car hit something, and Trent went flying out the window! Daria felt like she was in a vise from the seat belt tightening around her, but was fine. She looked up to see Trent stagger to a stand, and look back at Daria. Daria gasped as she saw Trent's forehead! As he got closer, she saw the flesh was torn right to his skull! There was something else though! She saw what looked like silver on his skull! METAL! The same looking metal that his claws were made off!

"Daria, you okay?" Trent asked her. Daria gasped again as the wound closed up again and healed itself!

"DARIA! YOU ALL RIGHT?" Trent shouted, getting scared she was hurt!

"I'm okay! Just a little stuck!" Daria told her as she noticed the seat belt was locked in place.

"Hold on!" Trent said as he was walking around the lamppost that had fallen!

Trent took a good look at the base of the lamp, and saw claw marks! He then noticed something! A smell, a very weird smell! Wait not a smell! A SCENT! Trent extended his claws, and looked around. He was trying to find who knocked over the lamppost.

"Trent, is everything okay?" Daria asked him.

"STAY IN THE CAR, DARIA!" Trent told her. Without warning, someone came from out behind a bush and knocked Trent over! When Trent got to his feet, he saw the guy who knocked him over was Tommy Sherman!

"WHOA! Wait a minute, you're dead!" Trent said as he had his claws ready!

"Ad-ad-Something metal! Unbreakable!" Tommy Sherman said as he knocked on his head and gave Trent a blow to the stomach!

"Too bad they wasted it on you, skinny!" Tommy said and gave him an uppercut to the face!

Trent went flying up in the air, and landed on the hood on his car! Trent's claws retracted as Tommy Sherman stood over him. "Asleep again! What a loser!" Sherman said as he smirked. Before Tommy knew it, he had three claws buried to the hilt in his hip! "Guess again, Jock!" Trent said as he then kicked Tommy in the crotch! "Y-you – LOSER!" Tommy shouted while giving a deep throat growl! He picked Trent up, his claws coming free from his hip, and threw him at another lamppost! Trent went to sleep, when the lamppost fell on his head! Daria was starting to panic, trying to yank the seat belt free! When she looked up, she saw Sherman walking toward her!

"The Misery Chick!" he said as he got closer!

"OH, CRAP!" Daria shouted and tried to yank the belt free!

Tommy was chuckling when he felt something hit the back of his head! He looked down, and saw a clump of hail the size of a golf ball. When he turned behind himself, hail the size of softballs started to hit him! When they stopped, he saw a chick with black hair and her eyes were pure white! Another person was there, a black guy with a visor! Before he knew it, a giant red energy blast nailed him in the chest, and sent him flying backward!

Daria tried yanking the seat belt free when she saw the energy blast! When the door opened, she was shocked to see who it was!

"JANE! MACK!" Daria shouted.

"Hold still." Mack said and looked at the belt. He reached over, and pressed the belt release. The seat belt immediately came free!

"Oh!" Daria said and turned read!

"Come on! Trent's car is leaking gas!" Jane said and got her out. Mack picked up Trent as he lay in a deep sleep and they all hauled ass before the car exploded!

Daria was resting on a soft bed, waking up from a deep sleep when she saw Jane in front of her.

"Yo." She said.

"Jane! Where did you come from?" Daria asked her.

"Long story." She told her. Daria then noticed what she was wearing! It was a dark blue jump suit, that looked like some kind of make shift armor at the same time! Complete with a flowing Navy blue cape!

"What the hell are you wearing?" Daria asked her.

"You remember that school I went to? It's for mutants. What do we do? Teach other mutants how to handle their abilities. What else do we do? Save people and mutants from jerks like Tommy Sherman. Who runs it? Your Aunt Amy. That's the short version." Jane said. Daria looked at her for a minute.

"My Aunt runs a school for mutants?" Daria asked.

"Yeah. She's also the most powerful mutant known alive." She mentioned.

"I had a feeling about that." Daria said. The two smirked at each other, and then hugged each other.


	5. New Addition

"YOU DID WHAT?" Magnus screamed as loud as he could; his voice echoing like a thunder clap.

"Hey, I was just seeing how tough he was! He only got one hit, and I can't even fell it anymore." Tommy Sherman told Magnus.

"YOU IDIOT!" Magnus shouted and shot out his arm. Before Tommy knew anything, he was lifted high in the air and his skeleton felt like it was being crushed. "I WANTED YOU TO OBSERVE! NOT ATTACK! NOW YOU MAY HAVE SCREWED UP EVERYTHING!" Magnus shouted at him.

"Y-You still got Barch!" Tommy told Magnus.

"THAT'S ONLY HALF THE PLAN YOU TWIT! I NEED THAT OTHER MUTANT! I DON'T KNOW WHY I SHOULDN'T KILL YOU NOW!" Magnus said as a slight groaning of medal came from Tommy Sherman.

"H-He only g-got me in t-the hip!" Tommy stuttered as he tried to fight back a scream of pain.

"YOU FOOL! NOW THEY KNOW I'M UP TO SOMETHING! Of coarse, you're the only mutant I've found that's willing to work for peanuts." Magnus said to himself as his rage began subsiding.

"S-so you did f-find a reason n-not to k-kill me?" Tommy Sherman asked him, his face twisting in pain.

"For now. I want you to just keep watching them. Don't do anything unless I say otherwise. Don't try taking a piss unless I give you permission. For now, all they know is that I've made the first move." Magnus said. He let his arm drop by his side, and Tommy Sherman fell flat on the floor. "Go check on our guest." Magnus said as he floated up in the air and out a whole in the roof that opened for him.

"What a hard ass." Tommy said as he went to check on Miss Li.

**Pizza Prince, Lawndale. **

Jane and Daria ate at the normal booth they used to sit at when they were in high school, eating pizza. Jane looked relieved that she was now in some more comfortable clothes, while Daria listened to the whole story of her, Mack, and Aunt Amy's school for mutants. She tried to act normal, but Daria found herself listening like a child watching their favorite show.

"Let me get this straight. My Aunt is a super mutant and she's training a bunch of other mutants how to control their powers so they can try and save the world?" Daria asked Jane.

"That's pretty much it." Jane said.

"Sounds like a typical comic book you find in a magazine rack." Daria told her.

"It sounds a little crazy, I know. Still, you've got to admit that it's pretty cool." Jane told her.

"So who was big bad and hairy that attacked Trent and me?" Daria asked Jane.

"Believe it or not, it's a visitor from beyond the grave." Jane said, but saw Daria's clueless expression. Remember? I wished he was dead when a goal post fell on him?" Jane asked her.

"Tommy Sherman? He's a mutant?!" Daria asked her friend.

"Yup. As far as Amy knows, he's not working alone either. I mean with the kind of brain he has, how could he?" Jane asked her.

"Do you know who he's working with?" Daria asked her.

"Not a clue. Whoever it is, they're covering their tracks well. You know, I'm surprised you haven't asked about Trent yet." Jane told her.

"I guess when you see a friend of yours have a gash in his head that's so big that it's showing his skull, and then heal instantly in front of your eyes, you figure he'll be okay." Daria said.

"You found out about his mutant ability the hard way, huh? You're right, he'll be fine. He's still sleeping, but fine." Jane said.

"No surprise there." Daria said as she took a sip of her soda. One thought came to her mind, but she didn't know whether or not to ask it. You know what? To hell with it. "Listen Jane, how do you know you're a mutant?" Daria asked her. Jane looked at her friend funny for a moment with a full mouth of pizza.

"What makes you think you're a mutant?" Jane asked her as she tried to swallow.

"I don't know. I've just been feeling a little weird lately." Daria told her.

"Or maybe Daria is feeling left out?" Jane asked her friend.

"Maybe. To Mutants and the idiots they hang around with." Daria said and tipped her cup.

"To idiots." Jane said and also tipped her cup.

**Morgendorffer Home. **

"Helen's going to miss the lasagna!" Jake was singing in a sing song voice while Helen talked on her cell phone.

"JAKE, BE QUIET! Yes, I'm still here. Are you sure, Eric? Okay, I'll be there in a minute." Helen said into cell phone.

"Something wrong, mom?" Quinn asked.

"Just the usual crap. I swear that not one person in that office can do one thing right!" Helen said to her daughter and herself as she began to make sure her briefcase was in order.

"Damn lazy employees! 'Don't worry, sir, I'll be right on it!' Then a few hours later, 'Oh I guess I forgot!' DAMN LAZY GOOD FOR NOTHING CRAPPY JERKS! NEVER DOING WHAT THEY'RE TOLD!" Jake started shouting as he started turning red in the face!

"Careful there, Jake. You don't want to give yourself another heart attack." A monotone voice said but it wasn't Daria's. They all turned to see Amy Barksdale rolling toward them in her wheel chair.

"Amy! What are you doing here?" Helen asked her sister.

"I was in town and thought I'd watch you rip some poor slob a new one." Amy told her.

"Seriously Amy, what do you want?" Helen asked her sister in a deadpan tone of voice.

"I need help with a few things at my school, and was wondering if I could employ Daria to help me with them." Amy told her.

"You mean at your school for gifted, what is it?" Quinn asked her aunt.

"People, Quinn. Gifted people of all ages and sizes." Amy told her.

"Oh, those kind of people! The Fashion Club and I used to run into them now and then." Quinn told her. Amy just rolled her eyes.

"What kind of help do you need Daria for anyway?" Helen asked.

"Oh, I need her legs so I can run the one-hundred meter dash in the Olympics." Amy told her in her little sarcastic tone.

"Wait a minute! Then she'll be in a wheel chair! I WON'T LET THAT HAPPEN!" Jake started as the veins started to pop out in his neck!

"JAKE! She was only kidding!" Helen started in her exasperated tone.

"Speaking of which!" Quinn started in as well.

That was it. Family or not, she couldn't take any more of their mind numbing dribble.

_"SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP!"_ a voice echoed in all three of their heads. All three immediately obeyed the command at once.

"I need some help with a few of my classes, and I knew Daria once substitute taught an English class at her high school. So I figured she could use the experience and credit for her college classes. Plus it's free food, room, and board. She'll also be paid nicely for her work. Is that okay?" Amy asked them.

"I don't see anything wrong with that. Do you Helen?" Jake asked.

"Well, I would feel better knowing she's with you. And her friend Jane is also there. As long as it's okay with her, I'll go along with it." Helen said.

"Thank you very much Helen." Amy said as she turned her chair around, and left.

"What were we arguing about?" Jake asked her.

"For the life of me, I can't remember." Helen told him.

"Why do I feel like reading a book? HEY! My watch stopped! I knew it was a cheap imitation!" Jake said as they all got up.

Jake took off his watch, and threw it toward the trash. If he had been watching, he would have seen it automatically cling to one of the pots on the overhead rack. It had been magnetized.

**En Route to Boston.**

"Okay. I understand why you brought me here, but why Trent?" Daria asked her aunt.

"He's a mutant who doesn't understand his abilities, and I think I can help him. Besides, I could teach him how to use those claws for more than just food utensils." She told her as they heard Trent lightly snoring.

"Okay. Then answer me this. How the hell can you afford a stealth jet?" Daria asked as she saw the clouds scream past them at a fast past.

"Well, with powers like mine," Amy started at a slow pace.

"You can't help but spoil yourself a little." Jane finished for her.

"Thank you, Tempest. How about a little fog so we don't get spotted?" Amy said while giving her a look that could have turned Jane to an ice statue.

"Okay. Just don't get your wheels out of alignment." Jane said as her eyes turned white, and fog formed around them. A thin blue glass moved over the forward windows, lit with computerized graphics of the land outside.

"Spoil yourself, huh?" Daria asked with her Mona Lisa smile.

"Oh who asked you?" Amy said as they flew toward the Mansion, the school for Gifted People.

**11:00 p.m.**

"Where are they now?" the figure asked him.

"They're on their way back to that lame school of hers." Sherman told the figure.

"Damn smart ass, goody two shoed, Mutant. And Miss Barch?" the figure asked.

"You can't tell the difference between her and the real Li." He told the figure.

"Good." The figure said as he heard Sherman's fist make contact with Sherman's jaw!

"What did you do that for?" Sherman asked.

"Because it's your fault they have the mutant with them! Now I'm going to have to rework my entire plan. Oh, are you wearing a jock strap?" Magnus asked.

"No, why?" Sherman asked him.

"No reason." Magnus said as he heard Sherman howl in pain as Magnus force the dumb mutant to punch himself his own crotch.

Miss Li paced back and forth in her cell. The whole thing was steel and stone! The only window was bared and was over a cliff. To be honest, her wall was a cliff! How could they do that to her? She knew the freaks were out there, but who knew they were this smart? And what about Tommy Sherman? If she known he was a mutant, she would have tossed his butt out as soon as they won the championship game!

"You know, I always smiled at the thought of a dork behind bars." an all too familiar voice spoke behind her.

"Sherman, let me out of here right now!" Miss Li told him.

"Or what? You're not a mutant. You can't really do anything! Hope you like it in there, since you're going to be in there for the rest of your life. Or was I suppose to say 'be in there for a while'?" Sherman said to himself while scratching his head.

"_Obviously being a mutant hasn't increased his I.Q. at all."_ Li thought to herself.

"FANG FACE! GET YOUR DIM WITTED BUTT BACK HERE!" Mrs. Barch screeched over an intercom.

"Man, how did I get talked into this with that old witch?" Sherman asked out loud.

"I HEARD THAT YOU – YOU MAN!" Mrs. Barch screamed.

"Where's another goal post when you need one?" Sherman asked as he walked off.


End file.
